Monday, June 29, 2009

Private Equity Conference


I had the pleasure of being a Panalist at Aon's Private Equity Conference in May. If you missed the conference and are interested in learning more about this topic, please contact me (contact information below) to setup a meeting.


Aon cordially invites you to a one-of-a-kind Private Equity event. Please join Patrick Ryan, Steve Friedman and esteemed colleagues for a lively and topical discussion on issues facing the private equity industry, followed by dinner at the renowned '21' Club.

Private Equity Conference

InterContinental The Barclay New York - Astor Room - 111 East 48th Street, New York City

Spend an afternoon with leaders in the private equity and financial industries for a lively, thought- provoking panel discussion that will address today's key financing challenges – and more importantly, offer insights for results-driven financing solutions.

Keynote speakers

Patrick G. Ryan

Chairman and CEO of Chicago 2016
Founder and Former Executive Chairman of Aon Corporation

Stephen Friedman

Chairman, Stone Point Capital

Time:
12:30p.m. – 5:30p.m.
Dinner at '21' Club to follow

Panels:

  • Panel One: Lessons Learned – Conducting a Successful Turnaround + Q&A
  • Aly Jeddy - McKinsey - Partner
  • Richard C Jenkins- Alvarez & Marsal -National Director - Private Equity Performance
  • David Sult - Aon Consulting - Senior Vice President, Restructuring
  • Mike Odrich - Neuberger Berman Alternatives - Managing Director
  • Mark Arian (moderator) - Executive VP - Aon Consulting, Corporate Transactions -
  • Mike Mitrovic - Iron Shore -Managing Partner
  • Panel Two: How Human Capital and Risk Management Services Can Help + Q&A
  • David Payne - Aon - Director Financial Services Group
  • Jonathan Golden - Aon Consulting, Human Capital
  • Brian Casey - Aon Risk Services - Managing Director, Merger & Acquisitions
  • Michael Schoenbach - Aon Risk Services - Managing Director, Aon Financial Solutions
  • Brian Cochrane (moderator) - COO of Aon's Mergers & Acquisition Group
  • Followed by Trading Desk, Cocktails and Networking
David B. Sult | Senior Vice President
Corporate Transactions | Aon Consulting Worldwide

1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98101
Tel: +1 206.331.1340 | Fax: +1 206.467.4641
Twitter: @davidsult

Assistant: Shaquan Adams | Tel: +1 212.441.2049

Culture “Flashpoints” in Merger Integration

Over the last several months I have had the opportunity to speak with clients from several of the leading high technology companies in the world. Each of them are recognized leaders in growth through acquisition and integration. The one thing that has been most elusive to each of them is effectively managing the impact of culture in their acquisition integration processes.


I first began dealing with the issue of culture and its impact on strategic events in large enterprises back in the early 1990’s. As a leader in the Finance, Operations, and Strategy (FOS) practice of the Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group, I had a hand in deploying and refining our cutting edge (at the time) approach to quantifying and acting upon the impact of culture on strategic events in the enterprise. This approach, which we deemed “Culture Print” was a survey based assessment of cultural attributes. It was a unique way to quantify and act upon an otherwise “soft” concept that permeated the entire organization and how things got done.


Since that time, I have worked with a variety of teams and Tier I consulting approaches to understanding and managing the implications of culture. Most of these approached incorporate some type of survey to quantify cultural attributes, develop a gap analysis, and then design intervention designed to address the implication of the results. A set of cultural attributes for an acquistion might be represented by something like the following:



David B. Sult | Senior Vice President
Corporate Transactions | Aon Consulting Worldwide

1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98101
Tel: +1 206.331.1340 | Fax: +1 206.467.4641
Twitter: @davidsult

Assistant: Shaquan Adams | Tel: +1 212.441.2049

Friday, June 26, 2009

David Sult Joins Aon Consulting Worldwide

I've been asked to provide some background information on both myself and Aon Consulting. Below is the press release from Aon Consulting announcing that I joined the firm:

CHICAGO, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aon Consulting Worldwide, the global human capital consulting organization of Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC), today announced David Sult was hired as senior vice president for the Corporate Transactions practice.


(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO)


Building on more than 24 years of experience, Sult will be responsible for consulting with clients in areas such as organizational restructuring and organization effectiveness, as well as mergers, acquisitions, and divestiture and carve-out transactions. These initiatives will help clients achieve sustainable cost reductions, glean efficiencies, and lay a predicate for long term growth strategies.


"With the current economic turmoil, it is important for Aon Consulting to have a robust organizational effectiveness capability and seasoned, senior talent that can produce sophisticated and cost-effective solutions," said Mark Arian, executive vice president and Corporate Transactions Practice leader. "Sult has proven global experience with exemplary client management skills that will add tremendous value to our team."


Previously, Sult spent 14 years at Deloitte Consulting as a principal and partner overseeing practices in the Central region and Pacific Northwest of the U.S., Southern Europe and Latin America. He focused on operations, organizational and functional cost reduction, supply chain and enterprise-wide change restructuring and performance management. Prior to joining Deloitte, Sult served as a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton.


Sult earned a Master of Business Administration in Strategy and Finance from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business; a Master of Science in Systems Management from the University of Southern California; and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also a graduate of Naval Officers Candidate School and holds a Master of Nuclear Engineering (equivalent) from the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School.


About Aon Consulting


Aon Consulting Worldwide is among the top global human capital consulting firms, with 2008 revenues of $1.358 billion and more than 6,300 professionals in 117 offices worldwide. Aon Consulting works with organizations to improve business performance and shape the workplace of the future through employee benefits, talent management and rewards strategies and solutions. Aon Consulting was named the best employee benefit consulting firm by the readers of Business Insurance magazine in 2006, 2007 and 2008. For more information on Aon, please visit www.aon.mediaroom.com.


About Aon


Aon Corporation (NYSE: AOC) is the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. Through its more than 37,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions. Aon's industry-leading global resources and technical expertise are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120 countries. Named the world's best broker by Euromoney magazine's 2008 Insurance Survey, Aon also ranked highest on Business Insurance's listing of the world's largest insurance brokers based on commercial retail, wholesale, reinsurance and personal lines brokerage revenues in 2008. A.M. Best deemed Aon the number one insurance broker based on brokerage revenues in 2007 and 2008, and Aon was voted best insurance intermediary, best reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007 and 2008 by the readers of Business Insurance. For more information on Aon, log onto http://www.aon.com/.

For more information, contact:


Allyson Marcus - 312.755.3592

allyson.marcus@kemperlesnik.com

SOURCE Aon Corporation


Allyson Marcus, +1-312-755-3592,

allyson.marcus@kemperlesnik.com,

for Aon Corporation


David B. Sult | Senior Vice President
Corporate Transactions | Aon Consulting Worldwide

1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98101
Tel: +1 206.331.1340 | Fax: +1 206.467.4641
Twitter: @davidsult

Assistant: Shaquan Adams | Tel: +1 212.441.2049

Webcast - Positioning for Growth in Better Economic Times

I will be a the Keynote Presenter and Panelist at a webcast sponsored by The Conference Board on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 11:00 AM EST.

The webcast is titled Positioning for Growth in Better Economic Times and deals with Human Capital Considerations Before, During and After Restructuring.

I am honored to be joined on the panel by:
  • Bryan Allen, Vice President / Chief Human Resources Office for Hanover Insurance Group,
  • Connie Trogdon, Vice President Enterprise Compensation and Benefits for West Corporation, and
  • Christine Hess, our Moderator, is Program Director for The Conference Board.

Here is some additional information about the webcast from The Conference Board's website:

Are you worried about the negative impact of restructuring and reductions in force on your top talent and capacity to support future growth?

In this unprecedented economic cycle, many companies have been forced or are now being forced to take drastic measures; including significant restructuring and reductions in force. This webcast will help Human Resource Executives better understand the human capital drivers of successful restructuring and key considerations throughout the phases of restructuring.

This webcast will discuss:

  • Restructuring to increase capacity and enable future growth.
  • Aligning human capital and talent with the business strategy.
  • Understanding the optimal point of cost savings that will not reduce engagement or productivity of retained employees.
  • The role of consistent and straightforward communications in preserving key talent and engaging the retained workforce.
  • Tips for restructuring in a tight time frame.
To find out more information about Strategic Human Capital and considerations related to Strategic Transactions, please follow me on Twitter at @davidsult.

David B. Sult | Senior Vice President
Corporate Transactions | Aon Consulting Worldwide

1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98101
Tel: +1 206.331.1340 | Fax: +1 206.467.4641
Twitter: @davidsult

Assistant: Shaquan Adams | Tel: +1 212.441.2049